“Vanity of Vanities”

Last updated on: January 14, 2024 at 1:32 pm By Dan Peterson

I want to call to your attention an upcoming fireside in the greater Houston, Texas, area. I anticipate that those who attend will find this presentation interesting: Proving the Church is True Steve Densley, J.D. Saturday, January 20, 2024, 6:00 P.M. Friendswood Texas Stake Center 505 Deseret Drive, Friendswood, TX 77546 You are cordially invited to attend a fireside in the Houston, Texas, area featuring Executive Vice President of The Interpreter Foundation, Steve Densley, who will speak on the... Read more

In the land of the crocodile god

Last updated on: January 13, 2024 at 9:56 am By Dan Peterson

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Our visit to the Nubian village of Gharb Suhayl yesterday was completely different than any of our previous visits there, and I really liked it. We landed a few hundred yards south of our previous landing spot, and never actually went to the area that we had spent our time in on earlier occasions. This time, we went to the local school, where “Mr. Umar” tried to teach our people the Arabic alphabet and the Arabic and Nubian numerals... Read more

In the shadow of the High Dam

Last updated on: January 12, 2024 at 1:41 pm By Dan Peterson

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To the consternation of its critics, the Interpreter Foundation is not dead, nor doth it sleep. Today, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship published a new article entitled “The Literary Structure of Alma 17–20: A 14-Unit Chiasm,” which was written by Derek Squire: Abstract: This article is an analysis of the literary structure of Alma 17–20. These four chapters in the current Book of Mormon were originally a single chapter in the first edition of the... Read more

Deeper into Africa

Last updated on: January 11, 2024 at 3:28 pm By Dan Peterson

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Another good day, at least from my perspective. We began it with a visit to the so-called Egyptian Museum — the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities — on Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. Some of the rooms there have been emptied out a bit, with their objects probably having gone to the beautiful new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization or going now to the spectacular and enormous but still-not-open Grand Egyptian Museum, which is located out by the pyramids in... Read more

The emergence of the pyramid

Last updated on: January 10, 2024 at 11:39 am By Dan Peterson

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We had a great day today. Rather long, but great. We began with the spectacular archaeological area of Saqqara, to the south of Cairo – but, of course, on the western side of the River Nile, the land of the setting sun and, thus, the abode of the dead. We did the usual Saqqara things but, on this time, we actually entered into the hugely important “step pyramid” of King Zoser (or Djoser) and looked down into his burial... Read more

Marratan ukhra fi umm al-dunya

Last updated on: January 9, 2024 at 2:25 pm By Dan Peterson

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But what, you will naturally be asking yourself, is this clown doing back in Egypt yet again, when he was just there at the end of last year? It’s a good question. Do I simply love jet lag? Let me back up just a bit before I give you The Answer. From what I’ve seen of it and from what I know about it, The Other Side Academy is one of the most remarkable undertakings that I’ve seen. Remarkable and moving on... Read more

Exclusivism, brokenness, and good health

Last updated on: January 18, 2024 at 7:15 pm By Dan Peterson

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As I say, I re-read C. S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity on the flight over. It has been a fair while since I’ve read that particular book, and here are a couple of the many passages that struck me. I supply no page references both because there are multiple editions and because I was reading it on my iPad: I have been asked to tell you what Christians believe, and I am going to begin by telling you one... Read more

One of the greatest of all logicians on life after death

Last updated on: January 7, 2024 at 12:30 pm By Dan Peterson

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First of all, I need to explain that, for the next ten days or so, I will have limited and only occasional access to the internet and, for three of those days, very possibly none at all. So my ability to interact with people in the comments section to this blog, and to respond to emails, will be sharply restricted. That said, it’s good to be back in London again, even if for only a couple of days (at... Read more

But why?

Last updated on: January 6, 2024 at 11:22 am By Dan Peterson

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Here is something from more than twelve years ago that you might find helpful as you begin your “Come, Follow Me” study of the Book of Mormon this year: “Learn more about the Book of Mormon witnesses: Read short biographies of each of the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses” And please take a moment to browse through these items from the Church website, as well: “Church distributes 200 millionth copy of the Book of Mormon: ‘What is the Book of... Read more

“Converging on Nahom”

Last updated on: January 5, 2024 at 1:32 pm By Dan Peterson

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Two new articles went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “The Nahom Convergence Reexamined: The Eastward Trail, Burial of the Dead, and the Ancient Borders of Nihm,” written by Neal Rappleye Abstract: For decades, several Latter-day Saint scholars have maintained that there is a convergence between the location of Nahom in the Book of Mormon and the Nihm region of Yemen. To establish whether there really is such a convergence, I set out to reexamine where... Read more